1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an exercise appliance and, more particularly, to a glove having band-type connectors looped through the fabric of the glove for releasably connecting a weight at selected locations about the outer surface of the glove to facilitate controlled resistance exercising of the muscles of the forearm, wrist, hand and/or fingers.
2. Prior Art
While gloves of various configurations have been proposed for sporting and/or protective uses, and while some of these gloves have been provided with weights to facilitate their proper use in certain sporting applications, until the advent of the glove of the Parent Patent, gloves had not previously been utilized as a part of a controlled resistance exercise system.
Prior to the development of the glove of the Parent Patent, proposals of various types had been made in efforts to provide controlled resistance exercise systems for muscles of the forearm, wrist, hand and/or fingers; however, such proposals had not provided a capability to selectively apply resistance exercise forces at precisely selected positions along the hand and/or fingers. Prior proposals did not provide a simple and inexpensive, yet highly versatile system for the controlled resistance exercising of muscles of the forearm, wrist, hand and/or fingers.
3. The Glove of the Parent Patent
In accordance with the preferred practice of the invention of the Parent Patent, an exercise appliance was provided which included essentially three components, namely a glove, a weight, and a connection means for selectively coupling the weight to the glove at a plurality of selected locations about the outer surface of the glove. The weight was preferably carried on a strap, whereby the glove could be oriented at any of a wide variety of attitudes relative to the strap-carried weight to permit a full range of controlled resistance exercise forces to be used in developing muscles of the forearm, wrist, hand and/or fingers. The glove was preferably configured to cover the entire hand of the wearer, and was preferably provided with a wrist-encircling strap or other wrist-engaging formation for securely holding the glove in position during use. In preferred practice, both left and right hand gloves were provided, as were strap-carried weights of various sizes.
The connection system utilized to releasably couple the weight to the glove of the Parent Patent preferably took the form of interfitting parts carried on the glove and on the weight. One or more connection formations or parts, typically metal rings sewn to the fabric of the glove, were provided at selected locations about the outer surface of the glove. A matable connection formation or part was carried by the weight or by the weight-supporting strap so that the weight could be coupled to the glove at any one of the selected locations.